Background

SEA LEVEL RISE

Sea level rise is an environmental shift witnessed globally over the past century. The atmosphere’s warming temperatures cause our ocean’s waters to warm and expand and cause glaciers and ice sheets on land to melt, resulting in sea level rise.

Rising sea levels and more extreme storms create increasing hazards like flooding and erosion for seaside communities. As seas continue to rise, the City of Campbell River is one of many coastal municipalities in British Columbia preparing to deal with increased flooding now, and in the future, as we adapt to our changing environment.

OUR STRATEGY

As a seaside community, the City of Campbell River has a history of storms and flooding in low-lying areas. With climate change, these will become more regular and more severe as higher seas push damaging storm surges further inland, weather events become more destructive, and heavier rainfall floods the Campbell River.

The Province of British Columbia advises communities to plan for one metre of sea level rise by the year 2100, and two metres by 2200. Preparing for this is an on-going process, and a combination of solutions will be considered, including re-evaluating land-use, structural and non-structural adaptation to the built environment and shoreline, and public education. Given our diverse coastline and built environment, there is no “one size fits all” approach, and we are working to identify a range of possible solutions for different areas. The community’s preferences and priorities for responding to sea level rise will be determined through a series of public consultation events.

The City of Campbell River is currently engaged in the first phase of a four-phase process, to plan for sea level rise and develop long-term adaption strategies. The City is gathering scientific information to assess the consequences associated with sea level rise to the community, along with the range of options available to address the issue.

REPORTS, STUDIES and NEWS

Find out more about Campbell River’s changing coastline by referring to the City’s sea level rise related documents. The City will be adding more as studies are completed and reports are produced.